that ancient and well-authenticated record, we learn that man in a state of innocence conversed with his Maker, and though after his disobedience he was expelled from "Eden's happy plains," it does not appear that he was deprived of his understanding, or of his knowledge. His eldest son was a tiller of the ground, the next a keeper of sheep. Of Cain it is also said that he built a city; and of one of his descendants of the fourth or fifth generation, that he was an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron; of another, that he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. All these are arts unknown among savages; but passing on to the time of the deluge, we find Noah, the second father of mankind, possessed of skill sufficient to construct a vessel of large dimensions for the preservation of himself and family. And those who consider in how great a degree one art is dependent on another, will at once perceive how many arts must have been known for effecting this purpose. Are we to suppose that his sons, who were with him, were ignorant of these arts? From them proceeded the whole population of the earth; and the building of the Tower of Babel shows, that a knowledge of arts was still preserved among men.

It does not appear, either from profane history, or from any facts with which we have in any way become acquainted, that, in that situation in which the Bible represents man as having been originally placed, or in any country immediately contiguous, men were

ever known to be in a savage state.

On the contrary,

with whatever circumstances we become acquainted, whether with regard to language or to arts and sciences, in tracing them upwards to their source, if we can discover a continuity of facts we generally arrive at the spot mentioned in that venerable record, as the first habitation of our race; and hence might be deduced a powerful argument in favour of the authenticity of the inspired volume.

When we find men existing as savages, it is perhaps more philosophical and consistent with known facts, to assign as a cause their separation in small numbers from the rest of mankind, without the means of preserving knowledge. The people of this island are at present in a high state of civilization; but place a few of its inhabitants in some remote country, without the implements necessary for carrying on the various arts which they knew at their departure; prevent them also from having intercourse with the mother country, or with any other where arts are known; and say what, in a few generations, must be the condition of their descendants.

Men in a state of society uniformly employ language in their intercourse with one another. Travellers or navigators have never, in any part of the world, discovered men living together without the use of speech. Even savages are distinguished from the brutes around them by employing language.

A few instances have been known of human beings

living in a state of solitude. By accidental circumstances they had been separated from society in early life, and allowed to grow up among the beasts of the field. A youth was found among sheep in a remote part of Ireland; another, called Peter the wild boy, was found in the woods of Hanover and brought over to this country; and the savage of Aveyron was caught some years ago in the forests of that department and carried to Paris. Others are mentioned by natural historians, but these are sufficient for the present purpose. The physical condition of these persons seems to have been excellent; their health sound, their strength great, and their swiftness unparalleled. But what is chiefly of importance, with regard to the present inquiry, all accounts agree in representing these, and other unfortunate persons found in similar situations, wholly destitute of the use of speech.

May it not then be inferred from these circumstances, that man in a state of solitude is utterly incapable of inventing language; and, as the sacred historian represents the first man, whilst yet without a companion, as using words to distinguish the objects around him, that for its first elements he must in some degree have been indebted to his Maker?

The first intimation we have respecting the use of language, is that recorded in the book of Genesis, where we are informed that "God brought every

beast of the field, and every fowl of the air unto Adam to see what he would call them, and whatsoever Adam called every living thing, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field."

Children learn to speak in imitation of their parents and of those who are about them; and since the Deity condescended to converse with our great progenitor, is it not natural to suppose that he, finding himself possessed of the power of producing sounds, might be led to imitate what he heard? In this way man might have acquired the use of speech, without any direct instruction, and if once acquired, it could not in any ordinary circumstances be lost; but even if we admit that he was assisted, we cannot reasonably suppose that he obtained any other aid than what served his present necessities, being now able to improve it as his future emergencies might require. We are not to imagine that words were given to Adam, to be stored up in the repository of his memory, till he should find occasion to use them. He must have learned the properties of objects by experience, and being now able to apply sounds to designate his ideas, reason would direct him in giving them names.

ON

THE

PROGRESS OF

LANGUAGE, AND THE

CAUSES OF ITS PRESENT DIVERSITY.

LANGUAGE, being the picture of thought, must, in its progress, equal, but can never outrun, the progress of knowledge; and though from some preceding observations, it does not appear that man was originally in a savage state, yet his knowledge must have corresponded to the circumstances in which he was placed, and could not therefore have been extensive. The number of words which he employed, must have been commensurate with his knowledge, and therefore inconsiderable.

New objects must necessarily have given rise to new names; and every varied combination of thought must have produced a variety of expression. The words formed on such occasions, must either have been entirely different from those already in use, or some change must have been made on the latter, to accommodate them to new ideas. An examination of any language will show, that, in adapting it to the progress of knowledge, men have more frequently had recourse to a change of termination, than to invention. The radical words of all languages are comparatively few. Even in the Greek, which, of ancient languages, has generally been thought the